


Everything Changes

by Kribu



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: F/M, The Dying of the Light Spoilers, tdotl spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 03:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2333681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kribu/pseuds/Kribu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valkyrie, Skulduggery, and the Bentley. In other words, the bonnet of the Bentley sees some hot Valduggery action at last. ("Hot" in the sense of it being what the bonnet saw. The ficlet, or rather the two parts of 11x100 word drabbles each, takes a rather less explicit view on the proceedings, I'm sad to say - blame the characters for being shy.) TDOTL spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything Changes

**PART I**

 

The grin that appeared on Valkyrie’s face every time she made herself comfortable in her seat in the Bentley was something that just happened. Automatically, on its own.

She loved that car, probably almost as much as Skulduggery did. Somehow, over the years, it had become _theirs_ in a way that few other material objects had. And even the five years they’d been apart hadn’t changed that.

The Bentley was familiar. Reassuringly so.

The one thing that hadn’t changed, she thought with the slight pang of bitterness she had grown accustomed to during the two months since her return home.

*

It had been easy – if in hindsight naive – to hope that her relationship with Skulduggery would still be the same. That they’d just fall back into the familiar closeness, working together, training together.

He couldn’t even teach her magic any more. The magic that had manifested in her after her Surge was too different. Not something that even Skulduggery knew how to wield or handle. All he could do was offer suggestions, talk theory with her.

It wasn’t the same, and they both knew it.

She missed Elemental magic at times. Another link that tied them together, gone.

*

She knew that Skulduggery was aware of every single glance, every look she took at him. It had bothered her at first; like with so many other things since her return, it made their interactions awkward to start with. Stilted.

It had taken weeks for their silences to become companionable again.

They were getting there, though, she thought, allowing herself a small, happy smile. And knowing that he always knew when her eyes were on him … That didn’t bother her any more.

She had the right to look: it wasn’t just their relationship that had changed. Skulduggery had, too.

*

“A few general improvements,” he’d said with a shrug when she’d first asked about his façade, noticing how it would stay on for hours now. “Can go a whole day with the same one if needed.”

For a moment, Valkyrie had harboured the hope that he could now have some degree of choice over the façade, if only because some of the faces in the past had not appealed at all, while others … Well. She wouldn’t go into detail, but some of the faces he’d worn had fuelled quite a few of her dreams during the years in America.

*

As so many good things in life, that was not to be.

In addition to a more natural – less waxy – look, which _was_ a good thing, China had done something to the randomiser to make it even more random.

Before, whatever face he wore, he’d appeared as a man in his mid to late thirties. But now? Some days he looked barely out of his teens – younger than Valkyrie herself was. This was, she had to admit to herself, even more disconcerting than the other end, when he greeted her looking like a man in his fifties.

*

She stole a quick sideways glance at the man beside her.

Tall and thin; at least there were some things other than the Bentley that really never changed. Immaculately dressed, as usual – that, too, was something that had stayed the same. Although she _had_ noticed his general appearance had turned even sharper than before (had he found a new tailor? She’d yet to ask; asking if he’d found someone to replace Ghastly was not a question to utter carelessly) and he’d started to favour three-piece suits more and more often.

Overall, that wasn’t a change Valkyrie minded. At all.

*

It was one of those older façades that he wore today. A lined face, topped with a mop of short, tousled grey hair. His eyes were sharp and blue.

Far older than what Valkyrie usually went for, but today, this face? It went with the suit (a dark grey, with a waistcoat as usual these days, dark navy tie). It went with the car. It suited him, she thought. He looked powerful, in control.

He also looked older and tired. This, too, was something that had changed. His boundless energy, the restless impatience that she remembered … Those were gone.

*

She remembered every one of his phone calls during those five years. There hadn’t been many; her time away had a _reason_ , and not spending every free moment with her phone glued to her ear, listening to Skulduggery’s smooth, warm voice, his jokes, the embellished (or not?) tales of his cunning and bravery was part of her punishment.

He’d tried to hide it, she could tell. The sadness. The yearning in his voice, masked by a joke or an insult, when he asked (as he inevitably would every time he called, before he hung up) when she was coming home.

*

Deep in her own misery and pain, she’d never really stopped to think about how her leaving would affect him. She felt guilty about that now; vaguely, because she knew that even if she’d given it thought, she wouldn’t have changed anything.

Wouldn’t. Couldn’t. She needed that time away, and he knew she did.

He knew and understood, and he never tried to stop her. Had never told her, not even after she returned, how much he’d been hurting, not _really_ knowing when – if – she’d return.

Valkyrie’s throat constricted. So much pain. All of it caused by her.

*

A deep breath, eyes closed for a moment. No point in dwelling on what had been.

They had eternity ahead of them now, together. It was her job to make sure it would happen; hers and his, but she knew he was ready, only waiting for her to decide what she wanted.

The occasional, awkward touch. The taps on the arm. The first time after her return when he drew her against him, his arm round her waist, ready to take her to the skies. Tentative, questioning, asking for reassurance that she wouldn’t flinch, wouldn’t draw away from the contact.

*

She didn’t.

She wouldn’t.

If it was up to her – she caught the glimpse he sent her way in the rearview mirror and smiled, not bothering to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks – she’d show him just how much she wouldn’t flinch at those touches. Those, or others.

That, too, had changed. The crush she’d had, years ago, was long gone. The love she felt for him now … It was a different kind. Deeper. More mature.

More _adult_. The word made her grin.

She didn’t think their relationship _needed_ to change, but she wanted it to.

 

**PART II**

 

The Bentley let out a groan and rolled to a stop. Valkyrie shook her head to clear her thoughts. She didn’t recognise their surroundings.

“Where are we?”

Skulduggery tapped his long, gloved fingers on the dashboard. “Halfway between where we started and where we wanted to go. In other words, in the middle of nowhere.”

“That groan I just heard … That wasn’t good, was it.”

“Not really, no.” He sighed and opened the door. “It’s the engine. It’s done this once before. I’m afraid we need to call for assistance.”

“No signal,” she remarked, looking down at her phone.

*

Skulduggery declared he’d walk back a bit, see if he could get a signal. Valkyrie nodded. She’d wait for him to return.

Damn he looked good though, she thought, eyeing his back as he moved away from her. His posture was relaxed, his shoulders broad in the sharply cut jacket. She could just make out the thick, tousled hair peeking out from under the edge of the rakishly angled hat.

She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, fake though as it was. And that jacket, she mused, would look even nicer draped over the bonnet of the Bentley.

*

A plan had started to formulate.

It wasn’t a new plan, as such. Or rather the plan was new but the thought was not.

The Bentley … Well, it was an old car. A large car. A large car with a large, long bonnet. A bonnet one could sit on. A bonnet one could lean back on. A bonnet one could even lie down on. Sort of, anyway.

It probably wouldn’t be very comfortable, a small voice said in the back of her mind.

Well, she countered, they could always relocate then. The back seat was nice and roomy, too.

*

_What if he isn’t interested?_

That irritating small voice was back again, when Valkyrie circled the car, trying to decide on the side and the angle that would serve her purpose the best way.

Irritating, but a good point. She _thought_ he was interested. Would be. Should be. He hadn’t _said_ anything, of course, but all those _looks_ , those awkward but persistent touches, the way he sometimes hesitated and changed the subject whenever she was certain he was about to say something … He only needed a small push.

Right?

But if not, she could just pretend she was resting.

*

The Bentley stood on the road, in the middle of nowhere. Not a single car had passed. Valkyrie had made herself as comfortable as she could, sitting on top of the bonnet, one leg up. She did her best to look seductive yet innocent – not innocent as a naive child, innocent as in “if he doesn’t get it, I’ll just say I was resting my legs”.

She’d made sure, of course, to not scratch the paintwork. There’d be a passionate response from him all right if she’d done that, but not the kind of passion she was interested in.

*

She hoped he’d be back soon. The bonnet was large indeed but the coldness of the metal had long started to seep into her backside, even through her jeans. It was also, not surprisingly, rather hard.

She winced, considered giving up on her plan. Half an hour of suffering, all down the drain.

No; he’d be back. It couldn’t take him that long to get to somewhere where phones would work again.

Right?

She sighed and adjusted her pose. If he didn’t return soon, she’d be too stiff to get up to all those fun things she had in mind.

*

Footsteps at last, as familiar to her as her own.

She took a deep breath. If she was right, and she dearly hoped she was, their relationship would go through another change. One from which there’d be no going back.

Was this _really_ what she wanted, that small voice asked. Was she _sure_? Even if it was what she wanted, was she sure that she wanted it _now_ , with their relationship still in that somewhat awkward, precarious, almost brittle state?

If she was right and it worked, would it make things better? If she was wrong, would it ruin everything?

*

She wasn’t wrong. She _knew_ she wasn’t.

And even if she was … It wouldn’t ruin what they had. They’d been through too much, survived too much, for anything to ruin that bond between them. Things still being awkward now was only to be expected.

Now that she thought about it, there’d been a certain tension to that awkwardness anyway.

If she was right, that tension would soon get resolved. And then everything would be back to— No, not back to good. On the way to something even better.

To have Skulduggery as her _everything_ … It was worth the risk.

*

He stood in front of her, tall and thin and straight, his hat on his head. “I rang the roadside assistance. They’ll be here in an hour.”

“Good,” Valkyrie said. She cleared her throat, not sure what else to add.

His head tilted. “Are you sitting on my car?”

Valkyrie shrugged. “I was bored.”

Skulduggery walked closer. “You haven’t scratched it, have you?” He peered at the paintwork closest to where her foot was resting. “I only had it redone last year.”

Valkyrie shifted her foot, let him examine the area around and under her leg. “I was very careful.”

*

He looked at her. This face of his was unusually expressive but it was the angle of the tilt, the way he held his body, more than the blazing heat in those blue eyes that told her she hadn’t been wrong.

“I should take a closer look,” he murmured.

“Yes,” she breathed. “You should.”

He bent closer to her, his fake nose nearly touching her very real one. His hand moved to cover hers. She had to lean back a little to avoid falling over.

He let his fingers run over the bonnet, caressing it, his eyes never leaving hers.

*

The metal had proven to be rather too cool against bare skin after a while, even with all the heat generated by the friction, so they spent the rest of the hour they had on the back seat.

It really was surprisingly roomy and comfortable, more so than the bonnet had been – although Valkyrie, having found the tie Skulduggery had been looking for and handing it back to him, was already well on the way to planning the next time they could get stranded somewhere without too many people around.

“I like this car,” she murmured.

Skulduggery only grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> "Val & Skul make out on the bonnet of the Bentley" has been a long-running joke between Derek, Moonie and myself for quite some time. As anyone who has read TDOTL knows, it didn't quite actually make it into the book series, but Derek was kind enough to keep his promise of "there would BE some; not that I'd WRITE it" ([link](https://twitter.com/DerekLandy/status/454666724701663232)) and draw me a sketch of the pre-Valduggery-actually-happening moment when I met him at a signing. This sketch can be seen [here](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/WG5sNMbnSF0tde9fnyHLJBpySogwBrqplA3rf9Xf1w0=w963-h793-no).
> 
> So, this ficlet has been a long time coming. Completely self-indulgent, as usual, but I had to write it at some point. :D


End file.
